CECIL HURT: Was Alabama's identity lost off the field?

Alabama football coach Nick Saban said the Crimson Tide lost its identity late in the season last year, and must re-establish it for the 2014 season.

Michelle Lepianka Carter

Published: Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 11:44 p.m.

When Alabama football coach Nick Saban spoke in a rapid-fire Wednesday press conference about a football team that had “lost its identity” a year earlier, the message seemed to be more about re-establishing physical toughness.

But discipline goes along with that toughness.

“I thought we lost our identity as a team last year at the end of the season, and we’ve got to start over to re-establish it,” Saban said. “It’s not easy. It’s difficult. It’s tough. To have the kind of psychological toughness to sustain a season and play the kind of football we’ve won with around here, you’ve got to pound. You’ve got to pound your hand in the sand until it’s tough enough to go through it.”

Toughness on the practice field is important when the time comes to “butt the guy that’s trying to block us in the throat.” Alabama does need to regain that aura. But there is an off-field component to toughness as well, and it is different than “wildness.”

The gift of hindsight makes it easy to look at some spring problems a year ago, notably four February arrests, and make a connection to the “identity loss” at the end of the year. Saban himself cautioned about it, but as Alabama rolled through its September and October opponents in 2013, it was easy enough to forget those words. But were some of the seeds of that team’s identity loss sown in the spring? Off the field?

The question is worth asking because now Saban has a couple of incidents he has to deal with: not terrible, scholarship-pulling behavior but significant incidents nonetheless.

UA running back Altee Tenpenny was busted with a small amount of marijuana while at home in Arkansas for spring break, and linebacker Dillon Lee was charged with DUI in Tuscaloosa in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Tenpenny is a talent, albeit at a stacked position (running back). Lee is a contender to start as an outside linebacker. They have the talent to play, and thus, the potential to lead. And for this team, “being led in the right direction” is probably synonymous with “establishing identity.”

Neither incident is unprecedented among the general population of college students, but both are illegal and, when you put yourself behind the wheel of an automobile, potentially very dangerous. What’s more, they violate the less tangible “team policy” code.

For Saban, currently involved in re-establishing the identity of a team, they are also a cause to reflect. I am not suggesting he can’t, or won’t, handle both situations properly. He acted strictly and swiftly enough with worse circumstances last year. But his actions do send messages and it will be interesting to see, to use his metaphor, how hard he chooses to pound his hand in the sand.

<p>When Alabama football coach Nick Saban spoke in a rapid-fire Wednesday press conference about a football team that had “lost its identity” a year earlier, the message seemed to be more about re-establishing physical toughness.</p><p>But discipline goes along with that toughness.</p><p>“I thought we lost our identity as a team last year at the end of the season, and we've got to start over to re-establish it,” Saban said. “It's not easy. It's difficult. It's tough. To have the kind of psychological toughness to sustain a season and play the kind of football we've won with around here, you've got to pound. You've got to pound your hand in the sand until it's tough enough to go through it.”</p><p>Toughness on the practice field is important when the time comes to “butt the guy that's trying to block us in the throat.” Alabama does need to regain that aura. But there is an off-field component to toughness as well, and it is different than “wildness.”</p><p>The gift of hindsight makes it easy to look at some spring problems a year ago, notably four February arrests, and make a connection to the “identity loss” at the end of the year. Saban himself cautioned about it, but as Alabama rolled through its September and October opponents in 2013, it was easy enough to forget those words. But were some of the seeds of that team's identity loss sown in the spring? Off the field?</p><p>The question is worth asking because now Saban has a couple of incidents he has to deal with: not terrible, scholarship-pulling behavior but significant incidents nonetheless. </p><p>UA running back Altee Tenpenny was busted with a small amount of marijuana while at home in Arkansas for spring break, and linebacker Dillon Lee was charged with DUI in Tuscaloosa in the early hours of Thursday morning.</p><p>Tenpenny is a talent, albeit at a stacked position (running back). Lee is a contender to start as an outside linebacker. They have the talent to play, and thus, the potential to lead. And for this team, “being led in the right direction” is probably synonymous with “establishing identity.”</p><p>Neither incident is unprecedented among the general population of college students, but both are illegal and, when you put yourself behind the wheel of an automobile, potentially very dangerous. What's more, they violate the less tangible “team policy” code. </p><p>For Saban, currently involved in re-establishing the identity of a team, they are also a cause to reflect. I am not suggesting he can't, or won't, handle both situations properly. He acted strictly and swiftly enough with worse circumstances last year. But his actions do send messages and it will be interesting to see, to use his metaphor, how hard he chooses to pound his hand in the sand.</p><p>Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225.</p>